Ally McCoist yesterday praised Charles Green's work ethic and urged Rangers supporters to buy season tickets to protect the club's infrastructure and prevent redundancies.

It was McCoist's first significant statement of support for the Ibrox chief executive, but also an indication that the investment Green had promised Rangers fans has not yet materialised.

Around 20,000 supporters are thought to have renewed their season tickets, and the deadline was moved back to Friday following last Tuesday night's 4-0 win over East Fife in the League Cup, which attracted almost 40,000 fans to Ibrox.

Many supporters remain wary of the intentions of Green and his directors, since they refuse to reveal who owns the club, and were planning to buy tickets on a match-per-match basis, but may now be persuaded by McCoist's statement.

"The maths would indicate that if not enough season-ticket money is sold then it's going to be difficult to keep the infrastructure in place," McCoist said. "I've been told in discussions that a greater return on season tickets would go towards nullifying any redundancies and that would be the ideal start to the season for me."

Green had promised to deliver £30m in investment before the end of July, but has so far only secured £1m from Craig Mather, the Nottingham businessman, for a 10% shareholding. Mike Ashley is believed to be on the verge of agreeing a deal involving his Sports Direct selling Rangers' replica kits, but also to take a 9% stake in the club, but that deal is not yet completed.

Like supporters, McCoist has not been told who owns Rangers, with Green claiming the investors wish to remain anonymous. However, he believes the chief executive has shown his commitment to the club with his work ethic during a fraught summer.

"I have been told by Charles, Imran [Ahmad, the managing director], Brian [Stockbridge, the finance director] and Malcolm [Murray, the chairman] that they are positive they will get investors for the long-term future of the club. There's a great belief investment will be found sooner rather than later. I won't say I know all the ins and outs of contracts and who owns what. I'd be very surprised if many managers did because it's not their remit. But I've seen enough in recent weeks to say enough is enough and let's get everyone on board and moving forward.

"Myself and Charles are still very early in our relationship and everybody has to appreciate that. Like all of us, he'll make mistakes and do things well, but I've been impressed by his willingness to fight the corner for the club and the supporters no matter the hour of the day. He's been a good ally to have when I've been in one or two of these meetings. There's been a lot of talk, a lot of questions asked and that will continue to happen, but if Princess Di or Mother Theresa had bought the club I would still have been sceptical, that's just how damaged we were after the last 10 or 11 months. Respect and trust has to be earned by anybody."

McCoist also revealed that the deal to sign Craig Beattie has stalled and expects Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya, the American midfielders, to leave Ibrox in the near future.